WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Japan and South Korea in a first-of-its-kind trilateral meeting on Friday at Camp David.
The president is hoping to smooth over a historically icy relationship between the two neighbors in order to bolster military cooperation in the region amid rising tensions from China and North Korea.
The meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol marks the first time Biden has used the Maryland retreat for a summit during his presidency.
“This summit comes at a moment when our region and the world are being tested by geopolitical competition, by the climate crisis, by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, by nuclear provocations,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a briefing on Tuesday.
“Our heightened engagement is part of our broader efforts to revitalize, to strengthen, to knit together our alliances and partnerships,” he added.
A senior official who briefed reporters on the summit said there will be a series of deliverables between the countries on issues ranging from education and technology to military and diplomacy. The three leaders are also expected to continue to meet on an annual basis as well as create a trilateral hotline, for consulting with one another in moments of crisis.
“All three of them are looking at the future and not just the near future, but the far future and making sure that, to the degree that is possible, we cement this level of cooperation and look for active ways to keep it going,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on a conference call on Wednesday.
“You’re going to see these leaders really buckle down and commit to a tangible, demonstrable set of initiatives that have real teeth,” Kirby added without providing further details.
Japan and South Korea are some of the most strategic U.S. allies in the Pentagon’s heavily armed Indo-Pacific area of responsibility, the geographic combatant command that hosts more than half of the globe’s 10 largest standing militaries.
The summit comes as tensions between Beijing and Washington have intensified over China’s territorial expansion in the South China Sea, aggression toward Taiwan, allegations of espionage and human rights abuses.
Both leaders will also have bilateral meetings one on one with Biden. In the afternoon the trio will hold a press conference to announce the progress made.